Feeding crop to a crop processing device located immediately behind a rotary disc cutter bar can be problematic if the crop is not delivered at an appropriate height for engagement by the crop processing device. An example of a combined mowing implement and crop processing device exhibiting the problem is a crop harvesting platform equipped with a rotary disc cutter bar that delivers crop to a crop conditioner. The problem exhibited by this arrangement is that the cut crop hesitates at the rear of the cutter bar, at a location directly forward of the conditioner. In larger stemmed crops, the stems will wedge under the conditioner causing this hesitation of crop flow.
The distance from the top of the cutter bar to the desired feeding point of various crop processing devices, such as a crop conditioner, for example, requires the crop to be lifted. The front profile of the cutter bar allows the crop to hit the crop processing device at different heights. The crop that flows over the cutter discs engages the processing device at a higher height than does the crop that flows between the cutter discs.
It is known in the art to provide powered elements such as augers or feeder rolls to aid in feeding the crop, such devices being respectively disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,330,982 and 6,158,201, for example. Also, it is known to provide a large lifter plate on top of certain ones of the cutter discs to aid in lifting the crop for engagement by a crop processing device in the form of a crop conditioner, such a device being disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,549,390, for example.